Foam, such as polyether-type polyurethane foam, is used to store ink in ink-jet printers. Typically, a foam block is inserted into a cartridge and is loaded with ink. The cartridge includes at one end thereof a printhead comprising a nozzle plate, orifices and associated fluidic means for ejecting droplets of ink onto a printing medium, such as paper, under control of a microprocessor. During printing, the ink is released from the foam reservoir upon demand by negative pressure at the printhead.
Contamination of the foam can lead to plugging of the orifices of the printhead and early failure of the cartridge, necessitating premature replacement of the cartridge and concomitant waste of unuseable ink. Such contamination arises during the foam manufacturing process and also during the subsequent foam cutting process, when sheets of the foam are cut into individual blocks for insertion into the cartridges.
Simply rinsing the foam blocks in a suitable solvent is insufficient to remove contaminants such as non-volatile residues (NVR). Thus, apparatus and a method for removing such NVRs is needed.